IRELAND: I’m going there

SPRING BREAK. All right, let me tell the whole story and not get ahead of myself here.

For a long time, I was planning on going on a group tour to Spain over spring break 2009 for ten days. The final payment is due next week, and I suddenly looked at the bill, looked at how (not) excited I really was about it, and decided to cancel Spain. I will lose the $600 I’ve already paid for it, but at least I won’t be spending another $3400 on the trip that I really don’t want to go on.

I’d like to go to Spain, don’t get me wrong. BUT, my reasons for not going outweighed my reasons for going and therefore, based on my superior mental acuity, I made a swift and powerful decision.

REASONS FOR GOING TO SPAIN:

I’ve already paid $600 unrefundable dollars for Spain

I’ve been expecting to go for almost three years

it’s a sure thing. All I have to do is send in my check and show up at the airport w/ a passport and spending money.

REASONS FOR NOT GOING TO SPAIN

It’s going to cost $4000. I’ve known how much it was going to cost from the beginning, and I don’t mind that, but I can do a LOT more with $4000 than go to Spain with a bunch of kids for a week and a half.

I don’t want to be constrained to a tour and a group and a guide, etc. I want to be able to make my own decisions.

The tour company added a ton of extra costs on at the last minute, and they’re going to add more before I leave.

I’m just not as interested in Spain as in other European countries…like IRELAND.

This is going to be the last summer before I go off to college and am dirt poor for indefinite number of years. I want to spend my hard-earned money on something I really want to do.

As you can see, one list is a bit longer than the other one. Therefore, Ireland it is.

SO, I bought my tickets about two hours ago. I’m going hiking for two weeks along the coast of Ireland over spring break 2009 with my mother. We have no plans as of yet, only ticket dates.

I will be blogging the entire adventure. We are going to stay as unplanned and spontaneous, sleeping in hostels and B&Bs, and I’m going to be taking the Macbook with me (it’s like my child. 🙂

I will be posting updates as they happen. If you have any suggestions for us, let us know. We don’t even know what area of Ireland we’re going to yet, only that we’re flying into and leaving in Dublin. We want to see castles and Irish countryside, and possibly the Giant’s Causeway–and the Guinness Storehouse, in Dublin.

Now that this blog has a sense of purpose again, you will all be getting bombarded with a constant stream of epic travel-ness! Make sure you RSS my blog so that you can stay updated with the latest in my spontaneous travel adventure–HIKING IRELAND!